Is trying to grapple an allip low Int or low Wis?

[Protagonist]

Neither. Your cat or dog has a concept of "play", separate from its concept of catching food. It isn't unintelligent or unwise if the critter doesn't actually expect to win, but is instead just horsing around.

Ok, i probably should have put a big "just kidding" in there...

 

[kolikeos]

Double post

 

[kolikeos]

It can be both:
If the character had a good WIS then he/she might get a "gut feeling" that you can't grapple it. On the other hand, if he/she had good INT then they might have learned and remembered that you can't grapple incorporeals.

 

[Shroomy]

Where's the both option?

 

[Hjorimir]

I went with Wisdom. The way I view Intelligence vs. Wisdom is that Intelligence lets you know that standing out in the cold is unhealthy due to the effects it has on the body, but Wisdom makes you decide to seek shelter.

Jurassic Park is a great example of Intelligence without Wisdom:

"Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." -Dr. Ian Malcolm

 

[blargney the second]

The first time you try to grapple an allip is low Int: you don't have enough knowledge to recognize it as futile.

The second time is low Wis: failure to act in accordance with the knowledge that you do have.
-blarg

 

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I think it comes down to knowledge (int) if he's never seen one before. Or wis if he's been observing it for a bit.

This.

 

[Oni]

A little from column A, a little from column B.

 

[howandwhy99]

First time: Low Player knowledge
Second time: Low Player intelligence. or wisdom. or IQ or bad memory. Or maybe they're just masochistic that way.

EDIT: Or maybe they are trying to tell a story and the narrative is cooler this way?

 

[shilsen]

Thread title says it all, I just can't decide. (The character in question had Int, Wis, and Cha of 6 each.)

Hah! I saw the thread title and thought, "Wait - did someone else do that?"

Yup, I'm the player in question.

First time: Low Player knowledge
Second time: Low Player intelligence. or wisdom. or IQ or bad memory. Or maybe they're just masochistic that way.

EDIT: Or maybe they are trying to tell a story and the narrative is cooler this way?

Nice try, but no. When I had my PC try to grapple the allip, as a player I could have recited the allip's abilities without looking at the MM. So it had nothing to do with my player knowledge (or lack thereof). It was a combination of other factors, instead.

The character I was playing was a really dumb orc barbarian, whose approach to every battle was to hit things as hard as he could. Due to his background and how he met them (they rescued him from captivity), he also had a feeling of great loyalty to the party and felt impelled to try and protect them from harm. So when they met the allip, he raged, charged and swung at it and missed. And then missed again. The allip, meanwhile, had wounded one of his allies and hit him too, which took his Wis to 4. So I figured it made sense for him to freak out and just throw himself at the allip. It was in character, it was amusing, and it gave the other PCs a chance to get away. So did my PC too, by the way, but he was at 2 Wis when he did In short, it was a mix of what I could justify my PC doing and what was enjoyable as a player and beneficial for the group. Win, win!

Anyway, that was my motivation at that time, but I could find a few other plausible justifications for it, so it's not the only possible one.